Non-religious family possibly moving to an area with mostly religious schools

[ChaosMoon]

DH, DD(3) and I are looking to move house this year. It really has to be this year, as we will need to apply for a school for DD in January.

We're looking at different areas and there's one town that we like. But... There is only one non-religious primary school in the town. Same at secondary level.

We are devout atheists. We don't like a lot of things about organised religion and we have heard a lot of negative things about the attitudes that are sometimes taught in religious schools. I realise that this may not be all religious schools, but how would we know?

Are we stupid even to think of moving here? It just seems such a gamble when the one school we like has 5 applicants per place. But then, is that a risk we'll face wherever we go?

If you're a non-religious family whose DC had to go to a religious school, did it throw up any problems? I realise that they aren't all the same, and I could be being very pessimistic.

I've seen threads on here before where non-religious parents are slated for sending their kids to religious schools and not liking what happens there. But what if you don't have a choice?

Contact the schools and ask when the next Open Day is, if it’s not for a while, ask if you are able to visit. You’ll be able to judge fairly quickly whether the school appeals to you.

Also, I think it does depend on which faith the school is. Both my DCs attended Cof E primary schools, even though DH and I are atheist. I felt it allowed them to develop their own opinions. While I do not attend church, I had no problem with them doing so. However, some faith schools - for example Catholic - might require evidence that you are of that faith and so your child probably wouldn’t be offered a place even if it was the closest school. In my experience, there would be a much larger catchment area in order to offer a place to those children of that particular religion.

I'd visit all of the possible ones in the area and see - some religious schools aren't really that religious aside from at the big festivals etc whereas you'll also find some at the opposite end of the scale where faith will be a big factor. You'll likely find that the ones who do not have place of worship attendance as an admissions criteria are more inclusive/tolerant to your position - in our area the only way they could get a much needed second primary school was if the church supported it as a free school as the council weren't able to open up a new one.

Thank you both. You're absolutely right, I do need to arrange some visits.

It's a good point about the entrance criteria. I liked today and there are ones with no religious criteria.

It's good to hear your experience too @moodymary . I know I'll have to reframe my thoughts about it if DD does get assigned to a religious school.